Murder by Yew (22 page)

“
Shoes, get up here. We need you to do something. And you there, woman, try harder to find that boy. You’re not getting out of here ‘til you do, and we ain’t got all day.”

As she watched Shoes climb the stairs, Edna thought it would help if Dee and Zach were convinced that at least part of their plan was working. “Wait. Before you lock me in again, may I have some water? I’m not feeling well.”

“
That so?” Zach chuckled, then said with a sneer, “You’ll get your water after you find the kid.” With that, he stepped aside to let Shoes pass, then slammed the door.

Edna heard the key turn in the lock before she switched on the penlight again and began to crisscross sections of the cellar she hadn’t already explored. She pointed the small beam into every nook and cranny she could find. Once, she thought she heard voices again in the ductwork but didn’t take time to go behind the boiler to listen. She was getting frantic. Where was Danny?

Having lost all track of time and shivering from the cold, she finally ran out of places to look. The search ended near a double-wide wooden door. She knew from having a similar one in her own house that it concealed the stone steps of the bulkhead. Her heart leapt. If the bulkhead was unlocked, she could go get help.

She played her light over the frame. Both sides of the flimsy partition were constructed of wide, ancient-looking slats. Instead of a latch, a rope knot stuck out of a small hole in the lefthand panel. It was a makeshift handle, the likes of which she hadn’t seen in a long time. Whoever used this door last had gone out through the bulkhead, or the long end of the rope would have been hanging out on the cellar side. The beam from her penlight began to fade as she reached for the knot and pulled on the rope.

“
No!” A small voice shouted as the rope was yanked from her hand.

“
Danny?” She said the name almost to herself, then repeated it, louder this time. “Danny!” She grabbed for the knot again as the light in her hand dimmed, then died. “Danny, it’s Edna Davies. It’s Mrs. Davies.” She dared not speak too loudly for fear of being overheard by the people upstairs.

She tugged again on the rope, feeling some resistance, but managed to pull it out of the boy’s grasp. Opening the door just wide enough to slip through, she groped in the dark, trying to find Tom’s grandson. “Danny.” She kept repeating his name, hoping he would recognize her voice without his hearing aid.

Finally, she felt cloth and grabbed for a better hold, but he wriggled free and scrambled upwards, out of her reach. The stone steps were damp and cold from rainwater leaking through the slanted bulkhead at the top of the long narrow stairs. She could hear the storm raging above their heads. “Danny.” She almost shouted, wondering again how much he could hear.

Sensing a sudden movement to her right as he tried to dash past her, Edna lunged out with one hand and grabbed his arm. It was a lucky grasp that caught him just above his elbow. She held on and pulled him to her. “Danny, Danny,” she crooned, folding him in her arms. Only then did he seem to realize she was a friend and stopped struggling. With a strangled cry, he folded his arms against his chest and curled into her warmth. Rocking back and forth on the cold stone steps, Edna cooed and shushed as Danny shivered and sobbed in her arms.

They hadn’t been huddled together long when Edna heard scratching over her head. Snuffling and hard breathing were followed by a loud bark, then another. Danny squirmed out of her arms and started banging on the wood of the bulkhead with the flat of his hand. “’ank, ‘ank,” he shouted.

Hank? Was it really his dog?

As the barking continued, Edna thought she recognized him too, but how in the world …

“
Danny?” That was Mary’s voice. What was she doing here?

“
Mary!” Edna shouted.

“’
ank!” Danny yelled.

“
Edna?” Mary’s voice seemed to be just on the other side of the seam in the bulkhead doors. Hank stopped barking.

“
Yes. I’m down here with Danny. Can you get us out?”

“
There’s a padlock. I’ve got to get something to pry it open.”

“
Be careful. There are two men upstairs with Dee.”

Mary’s tone was quieter when she said, “I know. I just talked to them.”

Twenty-Two

At the sound of Edna’s and Mary’s voices, Danny had stopped banging on the boards and climbed back into Edna’s lap. His small arms went around her neck, and his soft cheek pressed hard against hers. For what seemed like an eternity, all she heard was the rain drumming on the wood above her head as she hugged the boy to her and tried to keep him warm.

“
Edna?” Mary had returned. “I can’t find anything to use as a pry bar, so I’m going to try to shoot off the padlock. I need you and Danny to move way over to your left as you face my voice.”

A minute after doing as instructed, Edna heard the shot. Danny’s head was beneath her chin with one of her hands over his ear, pressing the other against her chest. She had only one hand free to hold over one of her own ears, but the sound wasn’t as loud as she had expected. Would Dee or Zach have heard it upstairs in the house? She started to hope they might escape.

Seconds after the gunshot, she heard the rattle of metal against metal before the door above her was lifted and a deluge of rain fell into the opening, soaking her back. Then Hank was there wagging his tail, licking her face and trying to get to Danny.

“
Hurry,” Mary said, bending into the opening. “They might have heard the shot. We’ve got to get out of here.”

“
Come in, and shut that door.” Edna used her body as best she could to shield the shivering boy from the worst of the rain. “If they heard you, the first thing they’ll do is look out the windows. Let’s wait a minute or two.”

Mary stepped quickly through the bulkhead, closing the overhead cover and playing a small flashlight over the steps before sitting next to Edna.

“
What are you doing here?” they said in unison.

“
You first,” Edna hastened on before Mary could speak. “How did you find us?”

Mary shone the light on Edna’s forearms, wrapped around Danny who, despite his shivers, was leaning forward to pat Hank. “Everyone in town’s looking for him,” she said softly. “I went home thinking you might have an idea where he could be, and I saw the pad you left on the table. When I rubbed the top sheet with the side of my pencil, I saw you had drawn a picture of Dee, so this is where I started looking for you.” She sounded pleased with her detecting skills.

“
What made you rub the writing pad?”

“
I don’t know.” Mary shrugged. “It was something I’ve seen on TV. When I noticed you’d been doodling something, I wanted to see if I could make out what was the last thing you drew on the pad.” Edna could hear the smile in Mary’s voice when she added, “It worked.”

“
She’s Daisy Farwell, you know.” Edna knew they had to get back to the business at hand. They could congratulate themselves once they were all safely away from this house.

“
Who’s Daisy Farwell?”

“
Dee. Dee Tolkheim is your long-lost school friend.”

“
No way.” Mary’s voice had risen in amazement.

“
Shhh,” Edna warned, then whispered, “Well, she is, but I’ll explain how I discovered it later. How did you know where she lived? I thought you only met her the other day at my house.”

“
I didn’t know Mr. Tolkheim’s second wife, but Mother and Father were friends of Joel Senior and his first wife. We used to come here for lawn parties in the summertime.”

Of course, Edna thought, the families would have run in the same social circles. “But what made you come around the house? What brought you to the bulkhead?”

“
I didn’t see your car when I got here, but I knocked on the door anyway to ask Dee if she’d seen you. A little guy answered the door. Looks kinda like Woody Allen.”

Edna stifled a laugh. Now that she mentioned it, Shoes did bear a slight resemblance to the actor. Rubbing Danny’s cold arm to keep some circulation going, she said. “Dee probably moved my car while I was waiting for her in the living room. That explains why it took so long for her to make tea and why Zach didn’t realize she had company.”

“
What are you talking about?” It was Mary’s turn to sound confused.

“
Never mind. I’m just thinking out loud.”

“
Well, the little twerp wasn’t going to let me in. Said Dee wasn’t home, but I heard her voice, so I pushed past him and found her in the living room talking to some guy with a big black mustache. Guess if she didn’t want me to know she was home, she’d have kept her voice down. She didn’t look pleased that I’d busted my way in. Said she hadn’t seen you, didn’t know where you were. That was really strange, because your bag was leaning against the wall behind her.”

Edna smiled into the darkness. “You are very clever, Mary Osbourne,” she said, reaching out to pat the woman’s shoulder.

Mary hurried on, her tone filled with pleasure. “I pretended to leave, even drove out the gate in case anyone was watching. My Jeep’s on the other side of the fence beside the road. I don’t think they can see it from the house, not unless they look out from upstairs. I put a leash on Hank and brought him with me. He’s really the one who found you.” She reached out a hand and rubbed the lab’s head. He was squatting awkwardly on a narrow step between the two women. “Now it’s your turn,” Mary said looking over at Edna. “Did you bring Danny here?”

“
No.” Edna was shocked and hurt that Mary would think such a thing. “I came to find out if Dee … Daisy had seen Tom’s appointment book. Now I know she did. He must have added her name to it for a Thursday afternoon visit.” The thought came to Edna in a flash, and she whispered excitedly to Mary. “That’s what Danny’s been trying to say all along—Daisy, not David or Davies, but Daisy.”

Thinking of the woman upstairs, Edna hugged the boy to her as a renewed sense of urgency swept through her. “We’d better get out of here. They’ve probably had enough time to stop worrying about the sound of your shot, if they even heard it, but they’re certain to come into the basement to look for Danny and me soon.” She eased the boy off her lap, still speaking to Mary. “We’ve got to call the police. Do you have a cell phone?”

“
No, but there’s a convenience store not far from here. They’ll have a phone. We just need to get to my Jeep.” Pushing aside the bulkhead cover, Mary climbed out with Hank scrambling alongside her before she turned to lift Danny from Edna’s arms. She’d bent again to grab Edna’s hand and help her out when Hank uttered a low growl.

“
Going somewhere, Ladies?” The storm had abated slightly and Zach’s words were loud and clear. He was standing a few feet away, a pistol in his hand. Shoes stood behind him, looking apologetically at Edna.

“
Give me your gun.” Zach barked the command as he stared hard at Mary.

When she reluctantly obeyed, he stuck the weapon into his belt and spoke to Shoes without taking his eyes off her. “Go get the van and pull it around to the kitchen door.”

As Shoes ran off toward the garage, Zach waggled his revolver at the bedraggled group. “Back in the house. Move it.” But when Mary turned toward the bulkhead, he stopped her. “Not that way. I don’t want any of you disappearing again,” he said, glancing at Danny, then motioning with his chin. “Round the corner to the back door, and one of you better hang onto that mutt, if you want him to live.”

Taking hold of Hank’s leash, Mary slogged along the side of the house. Edna reached for Danny’s hand and followed, her mind whirling. She wouldn’t let these thugs harm the boy. She had to stop them.

When they entered the living room, Dee moved from the hearth where she’d been standing. Danny hung back, tugging at Edna’s hand. “Davy,” he said, pointing, his eyes wide and frightened.

“
I know,” she said looking down and squeezing his hand. When she saw a violent shiver shake his small frame, she hugged him to her side, wanting to both warm him and protect him from the woman who had killed his grandfather.

Ignoring the others, Dee frowned at Mary. “What are you doing here? I saw you drive away.”

Mary grinned, saying nothing, but Edna sensed the smile was all bravado.

After a second or two, Dee shrugged as if the answer didn’t matter and turned to Edna. “You’re shaking. Are you sick?” Her smile looked evil and her tone was sarcastic.

Edna let her anger show, knowing precisely why Dee was asking. If Edna had to, she’d feign illness, but for now, she wanted to keep on her feet. Covering her bases, she said, “I’m wet and cold, and I feel nauseous. You’re scaring me and this poor child and my friend. Why don’t you stop all this and let us go home?”

Holding onto Danny, she scowled at Dee, who was facing her, slightly to her right. Trying to show contempt and hide her fear, Edna turned her head away to catch Mary’s eye over the heads of Danny and Hank. The boy was gripping Edna’s slacks with one hand while he held tightly to Hank’s collar with the other. Mary had dropped the leash, and Edna wondered if it was so her hands would be free. At the moment, the lanky redhead was glowering at Zach and the gun in his hand.

“
That dog gets loose, I’ll shoot him,” Zach warned as he sat down slowly onto the arm of a chair, resting the elbow of his gun hand on the high, upholstered back.

“
Where’s Shoes?” Dee’s words were sharp.

“
I sent him to get the van. We can’t wait ‘til dark. We’re gonna move now. The storm’ll cover us.”

“
You’re putting them all in the van?”

“
You got a better plan? I figure Shoes can go with ‘em, too. We won’t need him after this, and he knows too much.”

“
What about her car?” Dee tipped her head toward Edna, then jutted her chin at Mary. “She left that Jeep somewhere. I’m guessing it’s down beside the road. We’ve got to do something with those vehicles. I don’t want them found on or even near my property.”

Zach didn’t look pleased at the complications. Shifting his eyes from one to the other of his hostages, he reached down with his left hand and fumbled a cigarette out of a small box on a nearby table. Placing it between his lips, he patted his breast pocket and, with two fingers, picked out a small, yellow disposable lighter.

Edna’s heart skipped a beat. She glanced sideways at Mary, then down at Hank. Hope mixed with fear and caused her heart to flutter as she thought of the trick Jenny had taught Hank when she had wanted Tom to stop smoking. Edna’s left hand squeezed Danny’s shoulder, noticing as she did so that the small boy, also, had his eyes fixed on Zach and the lighter in his hand.

“
When Shoes gets in here, we’ll send him down for the jeep.” Talking around the cigarette, Zach toyed with the lighter, but hadn’t yet tried to ignite it. “Where’s your keys?” he growled at Mary.

From the corner of her eye, Edna saw Hank wiggle slightly as he sat staring at Zach’s hand, waiting for the signal. She also noticed that Danny had loosened his grip on the dog’s collar. Her heart beat faster. Would it work?

She looked at Dee, who was frowning at Zach. Hoping to distract her so she wouldn’t notice Hank’s intent interest in the man, Edna said, “I’d like to ask you something.”

Dee shifted her glance to Edna. “What?”

“
With all this …” Edna paused to play her eyes around the room, “why would you need to steal from other people?”

Dee gave a short, bitter laugh. “Honey, I don’t think I could ever have enough money.” Her eyes narrowed, and her frown deepened. “And why not steal from them, all these wonderful, wealthy folks who turned their backs on me and my mother? What do I owe them?” She shrugged. “I’ve been waiting a lifetime to pay them back for all the insults, all the misery they put me and my mama through. Serves ‘em right.” Her laugh, usually so melodic, was shrill this time. “I never really thought I’d have the chance to get even with this town, but thanks to my man here, I’m at least having a good time being a thorn in its side.”

Edna didn’t know if Zach resented Dee taking the attention away from him or if he thought she was beginning to talk too much, but at that moment, he seemed to lose his patience. Still, he didn’t spin the small wheel on his lighter. Instead, he momentarily removed the cigarette from his mouth and said, “That’s enough. Why don’t you go see what’s keeping Shoes.”

Sulkily, Dee pushed away from the back of the sofa she had been leaning against. Zach, having returned the cigarette to his mouth, flicked the lighter, and pandemonium broke loose.

In one bound, Hank leaped up and landed on Zach’s chest. As the big man fell backwards with the dog on top of him, Mary lunged for the gun. Grabbing the barrel, she twisted it upwards and out of his hand. Edna, who had been keeping an eye on Dee, saw her start to lunge at Mary. Edna spun in the same direction Dee was headed, clasped Danny to her, and lashed out with her foot, catching Dee’s ankle and sending her sprawling headfirst onto the floor. When Dee hit the ground, a distinct snap and a piercing scream told Edna the woman had broken at least one wrist.

Standing with her arms out straight and both hands clutching the pistol’s grip, Mary shouted, “All right, everyone freeze.”